by Kaivon Kealoha
Taft College dropped game one against Reedley through a walk off RBI suicide squeeze in the bottom of inning 16.
Taft scored 2 runs on bases loaded walks in the 5th. Austin Pendergrass worked an error by the catcher to drive in one more run in the 7th.
Cougar starting pitcher Seth Sorensen threw seven solid innings preserving his team's 3-0 lead until the 8th when Reedley tied the game on 2 hits, a walk by Sorensen, and a walk by Alfred Souza. Will Moore minimized the damage by getting a double play ground ball and a strike out.
Will Moore pitched the 9th & 10th innings in addition, giving up no runs on no hits in all 3 innings.
Matt Rogers and Shane Kotz combined to throw innings 11-13 giving up no runs.
Caleb Newman kept his team tied for the last 2.2 innings of the game including getting out of a bases loaded- no out jam in the 15th. Then took the tough loss in the 16th.
Kotz plated 2 hits in 7 at bats, and 6 other Cougars collected 1 hit each for the total offensive production.
Game 2 of the 3 game series against Reedley will be played Thursday March 10, at 2:00 pm on Cougar Field.